As the title said, I am making jewelry again! I just couldn’t stay away. I’ve been posting video to my IG stories of the process (the new snapchat feature they added) and I’ve been posting photos of some of the new pieces coming soon.

I figured I’d share a few here too…

I’ve been pretty busy working on lots of Quilt Market goodies and these new jewelry pieces, so I don’t have much to share other than this. I’m hoping to change that up soon enough. As for a shop update, I’m shooting for the second week of October. So if you were interested, keep an eye on my blog, IG account or new shop.

I haven’t been feeling my best lately, so I have been trying to find something to do with my time that doesn’t require a lot of moving around. One of the things I found I could do was go through all of the boxes of discontinued Art School Dropout goods I have stashed away and put them up for sale. I would rather sell them at a much lower price and send them off to a new home, then have them sit around in storage forever where no one can enjoy them.

I decided to initially keep the sale separated in an Instagram shop. Somewhere where I could just snap the photos quickly and upload them with out a whole bunch of work. I’d add them every Tuesday and Friday morning before CT woke up and then go about my day. This system has worked out perfectly so far and I’ve cleaned out a small chunk of pieces, but I realize not everyone who may want these pieces uses instagram. Which made me think that if something is still available after three sales I can just delete it on Instagram and add it to the SALE section of my shop. I will probably do this with pieces I have a large quantity of and some loose pieces too.

I’m in full blown assembly line mode! I’m scrambling around to get everything together, packaged and priced in time for Crafty Bastards on Sept 29th! (it’s a 2 day show, but I will only be vending on sunday). I also have to cast a bunch of necklaces for an upcoming event I’m partaking in, and I need to build new displays to accommodate all the new designs I’ve made! If this was four years ago when I wasn’t also a mommy, I wouldn’t be stressing, but these days I have to make sure I don’t work too many hours each day. I don’t want CT to feel ignored because I put too much on my plate. I think I’m doing ok.

Oh and I got overly ambitious and decided to make a dress to match my new jewelry to wear at the show. Yep, I’m THAT lady! At least this is the only show I’m doing this year and afterwards I get two weeks of relaxing before we all head to NYC!!

I’m excited and stressed about it all!! Bring on the social anxiety ridden events! I’m ready!

I spent most of yesterday assembling necklaces, taking pictures, editing pictures, writing product descriptions and of course taking caring of a very curious toddler (“momma, what is a backdrop again?”) I am happy with about 50% of the photos I took, so today will most likely be spent taking more photos and then editing them.

The 50% I did like, I REALLY liked! So much so that I felt the need to share three of them! I also really wanted to share these new necklaces I made. I designed them for myself, for my picky taste. I figured there may be others out there who like the same exact style as me, so I made a handful for the shop too. My plan is to have them up and ready by Friday, but my luck is horrible these days…

I started making my own plastic pieces sorta by accident. I HAD been researching ways to reproduce some of the plastic flowers and such that I used in my necklaces. Demand was greater than supply at the time (this was before I started buying vintage pieces in super bulk). I could never find a way that would work for me, and there were loads of options. I just happened to be browsing one of the art stores in Baltimore while waiting for a ride (I believe it was my sisters birthday and she wanted to show off her new car) when I came across plastic casting supplies. They had everything you needed to make the mold and cast a bit of plastic. I bought some rubber, some plastic and three different pigments to try out. I was excited! I LOVE trying new things! The idea of adding a new skill to my list just makes me so happy.

Casting plastic was seriously love at first pour. It was great. It felt just like making creepy crawlers as a kid. Which was something I did a LOT. (I still compare it the same way today when asked) Depending on what plastic I used it was almost instant gratification. My love of mixing and matching colors was also utilized, different drops or squirts of pigments produced different shades, and then different plastic reacted different to those shades, so the possibilities were endless. To this day, casting plastic is still my favorite craft to do. It’s been almost 8 years and I’m still not bored.

Business wise it was awesome too! I was able to reproduce a bunch of vintage pieces in new vibrant, colorful forms. I could make a neon pink fly to go in your hair, or a lime green octopus to hang around your neck or a tan camera to wear on your finger. It was a lot fun, and I’m so glad my sister was late picking me up that day, otherwise I may not have stumbled on this awesomeness!

So, to go along with the giveaway theme, I am giving away all the hand cast plastic pieces pictured above! (In the blue and yellow photo, I couldn’t fit it all nicely in one photo!) I tried to pick and choose as many different pieces as possible without going TOO overboard!!

Here’s an actual list of the prizes:

little bee earrings in lime green

bow hairpin in dark gra

large hanging wing earrings in vibrant blue

rounded crest earrings in wasabi mustard

acorn hairpin set in tan

swooping swallow necklace in vibrant pink

cougar head earrings in brown

roller derby hairpin in dark pink

flower plaque hanging earrings in lilac

house silhouette necklace in orange

treble clef necklace in vibrant blue

deer head necklace in white (with gold specks)

soaring swan necklace in white

horse head ring in lime green

swooping swallow hairpin in bubblegum pink

bow hairpin in light gray

bumble bee hair clip in mauve

single bee hairpin in neon pink

swirly crest hairpin in white

flowy plaque necklace in dark gray

camera necklace in yellow

fox head necklace in cream

octopus necklace in bright pink

Woah, I feel crazy after listing it all off!!

Now Here are the rules:

This giveaway is for ALL of the cast plastic pieces shown in the above two photos, there will be no substitutions. The contest starts right this second and ends Friday, May 17 at 11 p.m. EST when comments will be closed. At which time Rafflecopter will choose a random winner. The winner’s name will be added to this blog post soon after. Winner(s) will be contacted by email 48 hours after the giveaway ends If the first winner does not reply back to an email sent out within 24 hours, a second winner will be chosen. So please make sure to give your correct email address! Each giveaway item will be shipped out the day the next giveaway starts until the fourth week when it will be shipped out three days later.

This weeks giveaway is open to international readers (upcoming weeks may not be due to the size of the prize, so please keep that in mind)

To enter all you have to do is comment below letting me know

What is your favorite blog to read daily? Or if you’d like just link me to your own!

If you don’t comment, your rafflecopter entry is invalid!!!

This week we are going to try out Rafflecopter to help with the giveaway. It’s an awesome little widget that keeps track of everything and makes it easier to add us on such platforms as facebook and twitter. Make sure to log your comment in the widget, and if you would like you can earn more entries by adding us on Facebook, Twitter or tweeting about the giveaway.

If you have any questions or concerns about this new process, please let me know!

Also good luck to everyone that enters!!! I am excited to send these pieces to go to a great new home.